A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts

US stock futures fell in the pre-market, as investors are awaiting durable goods data and earnings from General Motors Company

. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 64 points to 15,436.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures tumbled 8.60 points to 1,675.20. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index fell 10.25 points to 3,037.75.

European markets were lower today. The UK economy grew 0.6% in the second quarter versus the earlier three-month period. The German Ifo business confidence index surged to 106.2 in July, versus 105.9 in June. The Spanish unemployment rate declined to 26.26% in the second quarter from 27.16%. The Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.33%, London's FTSE 100 index declined 1.01%, STOXX Europe 600 Index dropped 0.99%, German DAX 30 index fell 1.03% and French CAC 40 Index tumbled 1.04%. Asian markets ended lower, with China's Shanghai Composite dropping 0.60%, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average falling 1.14% and Australia's ASX/S&P500 dropping 0.07%. India's Sensex tumbled 1.42% and Hong Kong's Heng Seng Index fell 0.31%.

Analysts at Bank of America upgraded Northrop Grumman

from “underperform” to “neutral.” The target price for Northrop Grumman has been raised from $75 to $105. Northrop Grumman's shares closed at $90.30 yesterday.